1964's "Young Fury" served as the third of 13 A.C. Lyles B-Westerns from Paramount in the mid 60s, unusual in that the focus is not on the veteran stars, who still receive top billing, but on a variety of newcomers, none of whom went on to any prominence (Kevin O'Neal, younger brother of Ryan, later appeared in Bert I. Gordon's "Village of the Giants"). The top slots go to Rory Calhoun and Virginia Mayo, as Clint and Sara McCoy, the long split parents of young Tige (Preston Pierce), who grew up to become the leader of a gang of toughs who enjoy boozing and running roughshod over every town they invade. Papa Clint knows all too well the folly of what his son has become, as he too ran around with the Dawson gang when he was younger, serving time in prison after turning state's evidence, which has the vengeful Dawson (John Agar) hot on Clint's trail no matter where he goes. In a town already cowed by the 'Hellion Gang,' who aren't so adept at gunplay as they like to boast, Clint bides his time waiting for the inevitable showdown with Dawson, while Sara keeps a watchful eye on her hotheaded boy at the local saloon, ignorant of her true identity (he believes his father put her in her grave). John Agar, 3 for 3 thus far for A.C. Lyles, wears a sneer and a scar on his face, but is still too likable on screen to convincingly portray evil, while Richard Arlen's Sheriff Jenkins fails to survive the proceedings. Joe the Blacksmith is played by a very frail William Bendix, who only lived long enough to do two scenes prior to his death at age 58, while Ace the Bartender provides Lon Chaney with a decent enough cameo role, curiously one of the few townspeople the Hellions don't mess with (he successfully demands payment for a bottle of whiskey!). Like Agar, Chaney too was present in both previous Westerns, "Law of the Lawless" and "Stage to Thunder Rock," and did the next four as well: "Black Spurs," "Town Tamer," "Apache Uprising," and "Johnny Reno."
Review of Young Fury
